UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460

The Honorable Susan Mosier Acting Secretary 

## MAR 2 0201 5

Kansas Department of Health and Environment 1000 Southwest Jackson St reet, Suite 220 Topeka, Kansas 66612 Dear Ms. Mosier: OFF I CE OF A IR AND RADIATION

I am writing to update you on the s tatu s of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's progress in implementing the primary National Ambient A ir Quality S tandard (NAAQS) for sulfur dioxide (S02) set in 2010 at 75 parts per billion (ppb) as a 1-hour average. In July 2013, the EPA identified areas in 16 states as nonattainrnent and expressed the intent to address designations for the remainder ofthe country in separate future actions. On March 2, 20 1 5, the U
. S
. District Court for the Northern District of California accepted as an enforceable order an agreement between the EPA and Sierra Club and Natural Re sources Defense Council to resolve litigation concerning the deadline for completing the designations. The court 's order directs the EPA to complete designations in three additional rounds : the first round by July 2 , 2016, the second round by December 31, 2017, and the final round by December 31 , 2020
. The EPA will complete these designations by designating areas as either nonattainment, unclassifiable/attainment, or unclassifiable. In the first round ofdesignations, the EPA will designate two groups of areas: 1) areas that have newly monitored violations of the 2010 S02 standa rd, and 2) areas that contain any stationary source that according to the EPA's A ir Markets Database either emitted more than 16,000 tons of S02 in 2012 or emitted more than 2,600 tons ofS02 and had an emission rate of at least 0.45 lbs S02/mmbtu in 2012 and that has not been announced (as of March 2 , 2015) for retirement. In the enclosure to thi s letter, the EPA provides the schedule we intend to follow to meet the July 2, 2016, deadline
. The EPA has identified the following electric power plant sources in your state as meeting the criteria established in the court' s order : 2012 so2 2012 S02 State County Facili ty Name Emissions Emissions Rate (tons) (lb /mmbtu) KS S hawnee Tecumseh Energy Center 3,979 0.585 KS Linn La Cygne Generating Station 16,235 0
. 356 KS Wyandotte Nearman Creek Power Station 4 ,612 0.636

Internet Address (URL) • http : //

www .epa . gov Recycted/Recyclable • Printed w i th Vegetable O il Based Inks on 100% Postconsumer, Process Chlo rin e Free Recycl ed PaperThe EPA will use the most recent ava il able information when making des i gnation and boundary decisions for the i ndicated areas. I f you wou l d like to subm i t an updated recommendat i on and supporting information for the EPA to consider for the affected areas in your state, we request that you do so by September 18,2015. The EPA has updated i ts March 24, 2011 , des i gnation guidance for the 2010 S0 2. standard t o suppo rt ana lysis of d esign ation s and boundaries for th ese next rounds of designa t i ons. The updat e d guidance can

be fo und on the EPA's we b si te at http :// epa.gov/airqua/ity/sul(urdioxide/guidance. html. The EPA has

a l so provided two techn i cal assistance documents tha t provide advice on the use of mod eling and monitoring data w h en determ i ning i f a n area is meeting or not meeting the 2010 S02 standard. These documents can be found on the EPA's website at http ://e pa.gov/airqualitv l sul(urdioxide / implement . html. The court's order directs the EPA to comple te the second rou nd of area designations b y December 3 1 , 2017. T h ese designations would address areas where s tat es ha ve not installed a nd begun ope r ating a new

S02 monitorin g network meeting the EPA's specifications referenced in our propo sed ru l e titled, " Data Requirements Rule for the 1-h our S0 2 primary NAAQS". This rule , which was proposed in the Federal Register on May 1 3, 2014, would direct state and tribal air agencies to provide data to characterize

current air quali ty in areas w i th l arge sources of S02 if such area s do not hav e sufficient air quality monitoring in place to identify maximum S02 concentrations. T he data collected as a result of this

proposed ru l e would be used i n the desi g nations process. Lastly, the court 's order d irec ts the EPA t o designate all remaining areas by December 31, 2020. T he EPA will provide s t ates with add i t i ona l i nfo r mation on t he design a tion s p r ocess associated with these later deadlines at a later date. We look forward to continued dialogue w ith you and you r sta f f as we work to ge ther to implemen t th e 2010 S02 standard and achieve its intended public health protect i on. For add i t i o n a l informa t ion regard in g des i gnat i o n s for th e 20 1 0 so2 standard, pl ease visi t our website at www.e pa.gov /s o2designation s . Should you have any questions, pl ease do not hesitate to call me or Scott Mathias of my staff at 919 - 54 1- 53 10 and mathias.scott@epa . gov. S in cere l y, Janet G. McCabe Acting Assistant Administrator Enclosure cc: Mark Hague

EPA Region 7 Acting Adminis t ratorENCLOSURE TIMELINE FOR 2 010 PRIMARY S02 NAAQS DES IGNATION PRO CESS FOR AREAS ASSOC IATED WITH JULY 2, 2016, C OURT

- ORDERED DEADLINE* Milestone Date** Co urt Order March 2 , 2015 State s may s ubmit updated reco mmendations N o later than September 18 , 2015 and supporting information f o r area designations to the E PA The EPA notifies states concerning any o/a January 22 , 2016 , but absolutely no lat e r intended modifications to their than 120 days prior to fin al designation s, 

### i.e., recommendations ( 120-da y letters) March 2, 20 16 The EPA publi shes public notice of state o / a February 3 , 20 1 6 recommendations and the E PA's intended modification s and i nitiates 30

-day public comment period End of 30

-day public co mment period o/a March 4 , 2016 States provide addi tional inf o rmation to o/a April 8 , 20 1 6 demonstrate why an EPA modification is inappropriate The EPA promulgates final S02 area No later than July 2, 2016
. designations (no later than 16 months from Co urt Order) * T he court's order directs the EPA to promulgate additional round s of designations by December 31, 2017 , and by December 31, 2020. ** o/a = on or ab out